Don't be a salted fish, the daily life of the concubine in the palace

...

After leaving the study, Shen Wei returned to the bedroom and prepared to continue exercising.

After three years of careful nursing, her body, which had been damaged by childbirth, has recovered.

The beauty regimen is good and the skin condition is restored. As expected, if a woman does not take care of children or work overtime, eats well, sleeps well and has fun every day, her physical condition will not be too bad.

The condition is very good and you can go back to the palace.

The court was stable, and Li Yuanjing did not take any more concubines into the palace. Today, the Qing Kingdom's harem was peaceful, and Lu Xuan was still favored, but not as popular as in previous years. Other concubines were not favored much either, and the Qing Kingdom's harem felt a bit lifeless.

The Queen and Lu Xuan were evenly matched in power and managed the harem together. There were some open and covert struggles, but overall it was not as intense as in the past two years.

It's a bit like the lifeless Prince Yan's Palace back then.

Shen Wei felt that Li Yuanjing should take her back to the palace soon, he just needed a suitable reason.

The fifth day of the fifth lunar month is the Queen Mother's birthday, and also the birthdays of her two sons. Li Yuanjing might use this as an excuse to take Shen Wei back home.

...

Shen Wei guessed correctly.

Li Yuanjing was thinking about issuing an edict, intending to bring the empress dowager and Shen Wei back to the palace from their recuperation outside on the pretext of "inviting the empress dowager to return to the palace to celebrate her birthday."

Now that Daqing's internal and external troubles have been resolved, the ninth prince of Yue, Tuoba Hongchuan, has ascended the throne and sent envoys to Yanjing to sign a peace agreement between the two countries. The envoys of Yue were personally escorted back to Beijing by General Shen Mieyue.

"Vivi." Li Yuanjing stood by the window of Chang'an Palace, looking at the prosperous spring scenery outside the window.

Clusters of roses bloomed luxuriantly, swaying and unwinding in the spring breeze.

Three years have passed, and the flowers have bloomed and fallen for three years.

During these three years, the harem was filled with beauties, each vying for favor and love. Li Yuanjing could always see ambitious souls through their dirty eyes.

Although beauties are beautiful, they are full of the filth of the world. Every beautiful girl becomes dull and dull in the end, becoming a colorless concubine in the harem.

If there is a concubine who is a little interesting, Lu Xuan is one of them. When she first entered the palace, she was full of innocence, a bit like Shen Wei. But since Lu Xuan gave birth to the prince, even though she covered it up well, Li Yuanjing could still discover her ambition and calculations, and found out that Lu Xuan was secretly selling official positions and titles for the Lu family's clansmen.

When these women entered the palace, each of them had family interests to bear, and each of them wanted to take advantage of the emperor to gain benefits.

Only Shen Wei was different. In the past three years, every letter Shen Wei sent home was filled with care and love.

Shen Wei never mentioned her brother who was an official, nor did she ask the emperor to promote her brother. Her world only consisted of Li Yuanjing and her children.

Eunuch Deshun came to report respectfully: "Your Majesty, General Shen sent a message that the Yue Kingdom delegation he is escorting will soon arrive in Jiangnan. It is expected to arrive in Yanjing in half a month."

Li Yuanjing thought for a moment and ordered, "Let Shen Xiuming, the magistrate of Jiangnan, receive the delegation."

Shen Xiuming is Shen Wei's younger brother. He was demoted to the south to guard the granary three years ago. Due to his outstanding political achievements, he was promoted to the sixth-rank judge of Jiangnan last year.

Let Shen Xiuming receive the delegation and count him as having "merit in receiving envoys". With this merit, Shen Xiuming was allowed to return to Yanjing to serve as an official.

Shen Wei is sensible and never uses the emperor's favor to help her brother gain an official career. Li Yuanjing plans to help her secretly.

"I'll do it right away." Deshun lowered his head respectfully and went to announce the emperor's decree.

After Deshun left, Li Yuanjing looked at the lush blooming roses for a while, then returned to Chang'an Palace to continue reviewing memorials.

In the gilded copper furnace in the hall, fragrant and elegant incense was burning. This incense was secretly sent by Shen Wei, and it had a delicate fragrance that could relieve fatigue.

Three years have passed, and even though the two have not met, Shen Wei's traces are everywhere.

"Your Majesty, Concubine Shu is here." The eunuch lowered his head and went into the palace to report.

Li Yuanjing frowned, a trace of displeasure flashed across his eyes: "Pass it on."

After a while, the graceful Lu Xuan walked into Chang'an Palace. She had dressed up carefully today, with a beautiful Lingxu bun, and wore a light green cloud shirt and palace skirt, which made her look outstanding.

She knelt down to greet him, and said with a smile, "As spring is getting warmer, I personally cooked some Tremella and Lotus Seed Soup and brought it to Your Majesty."

Li Yuanjing raised his hand and asked the eunuch beside him to bring the wine to the table, but he did not drink it immediately, nor did he say anything more to Lu Xuan.

A trace of disappointment and sadness flashed across Lu Xuan's eyes. She knelt down and bowed again: "I'll take my leave."

When Lu Xuan first entered the palace, she was burdened with the expectations of her family. When she saw the emperor, Lu Xuan was inevitably moved. The emperor was handsome, dignified, diligent and caring for the people. He was a rare wise ruler and a rare husband.

Lu Xuan was full of confidence, she felt that she would definitely win the emperor's love.

She is beautiful and talented, and she is better than all the women in the harem. Li Yuanjing will definitely fall in love with her.

In fact, in the first year after entering the palace, Lu Xuan did receive the most favor from the emperor. During the time when their relationship was at its strongest, Lu Xuan served the emperor by grinding ink and burning incense, and appreciating the moon and reciting poems with him.

That year was beautiful like a dream. The two of them were like a loving couple, and Lu Xuan gradually became addicted to it.

But two years later, even the strongest feelings gradually faded.

Lu Xuan clearly felt that the emperor's love for her was diminishing little by little.

Lu Xuan couldn't understand. Wasn't she beautiful? Wasn't she gentle? She possessed all the good qualities of a woman, dignified and virtuous, talented and beautiful, but the emperor's affection for her was still fading.

Even if she tried her best to make amends, she could only watch the emperor's heart drift away.

Walking in the Imperial Garden, looking at the roses blooming by the wall, Lu Xuan sighed: "The Emperor is really heartless..."

Xiaoqin patiently comforted her, "My Lord, every woman in the harem has come this way. The Emperor stays with you four or five times a month. You are already the most favored concubine in the harem."

The emperor never indulged in beauty.

During the three years since he ascended the throne, the emperor favored many concubines one after another.

When Lu Xuan entered the palace, she was afraid of other concubines, so she secretly took action to overthrow and poison them. But later, Lu Xuan found that these newcomers were all short-lived without her intervention.

Because the emperor soon lost interest in them.

Xie Fanglan, the most favored daughter of the Xie family, has now been demoted to Concubine Lan, and the emperor visits her less than five times a year.

All in all, Lu Xuan is the luckiest one at the moment. In the cold and lonely harem, she receives the most attention and favor from the emperor.

"Yes, I should be content. The emperor cares about the whole world and will not be hindered by a woman." Lu Xuan closed her eyes tightly to hide the melancholy in her eyes.

The emperor is ruthless, and one cannot expect his love. When Lu Xuan first entered the palace, she looked down on Liu Ruyan and Zhang Miaoyu, thinking that they had no fighting spirit and were wasting their time.

Looking back now, Zhang Miaoyu and Liu Ruyan did not waste their time at all; they just lived life to the fullest.

Lu Xuan thought that she shouldn't focus on the emperor. She now had a lively and healthy son, and her son was the most important.

For the sake of her children and her family, she had to find a way to pave the way for her children to inherit the throne.

Lu Xuan calculated in her mind that the only person who posed a threat to her son at present was the Queen's son Li Chengzhen. The sons of the other concubines were timid and ignorant and posed no threat.

Back then, Lu Xuan secretly killed the Queen's eldest son, Li Chengke. The Queen was on high alert, so Lu Xuan failed to kill the Queen's youngest son.

But as long as the queen is alive, Lu Xuan will have to find a way to defeat her and sit on the throne of queen.

Lu Xuan was worried and was about to go back to the palace by the Imperial Garden with her personal maid. As she was walking, a child suddenly came and bumped into her.

The little boy was skinny and small. He raised his head and saw the gorgeously dressed Lu Xuan. It was as if he saw a ghost. He was so scared that he started crying and begging for help: "Mother, wuwuwu..."

Lu Xuan's eyebrows twitched slightly, and she recognized the little boy in front of her. This was Concubine Qiao's son, the seventh prince Li Chengxun.

Liu Qiaoer, who was in the Imperial Garden, heard the crying and ran over in a panic. When she found that her son had bumped into Lu Xuan, who was as beautiful as a blooming peony, Liu Qiaoer's face turned pale instantly and she was sweating profusely.